Pen Yan

I do not remember what this boat smelled like, but it reminds me of Dave who worked in a boat shop across the lake from Pen Yan, New York. Pen Yan is the boat’s brand. The green Johnson would suit this boat well.

Sea Horse

When I was your age I loved the smell of the gas/oil burning when a motor like this was running. They say smell is a strong memory trigger and this time I think they are right. Once, when I was about 6 years old, I fell asleep in class and woke up to what I thought was an outboard motor running. I lifted my head from my desk and realized I was in school and that the motor I had heard was from a passing car. I hated school and loved summer. I still love summer.

Ivy Leaguer

I’ve got this friend whom I’ve known for years and one day he was talking to me about how great the school I went to was: great tradition of education, old, famous, ivy covered walls. I finally asked him what school I went to. He said Harvard. I had to break it to him that I did not go to Harvard. Then I told him that it is a good thing I didn’t go to Yale either or I’d be offended. Then a couple of years later, I heard him talking to his girlfriend about me and the fact that I attended Harvard. I guess he forgot. This time I figured, “no harm no foul,” and let it stand. It could be just me but I feel I get more respect from the two of them than I would if I hadn’t gone to Harvard.

Winter

It is so cold here in the Midwest that there is almost no temperature. At least that’s what I heard on the news: the temperature is near zero (with wind chill). To me the colder it gets the more temperature there should be because the cold is such a physical thing. I feel like I am walking through a lot of degrees in Milwaukee and Chicago when there is almost no temperature.
Click for a taste of spring.

Ektachrome

Kodachrome

I like the look of Kodachrome

More Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, Northern Wisconsin

Could This Be True?

How can we be sure? Is this something that is measurable? I, for one, am skeptical. But that's healthy right? The scientific method relies on skepticism.

Another from the Ewing archive.

Bird Dog?

This picture is by a Ewing (Perhaps James' father) taken sometime in the 50s or maybe the 40s. It was taken somewhere near Mt. Shasta, California.

Cat Hunt.
Here is a quote from the article linked above:

The proposal, which was raised five years ago and voted down by the Conservation Congress, was revived after a 2004 University of Wisconsin study that found non-native feral cats were a threat to native animals such as lovebirds.

There is not a bird called a lovebird native to Wisconsin. Lovebirds are Parrots native to Africa. But cats would kill them if they could.

Birding Chicago

Walking by a semi public garden in the West Loop, I stopped to see what birds were chirping. I was not surprised to see White-throated Sparrows. They seem to be the only sparrows in Chicago other than House Sparrows (which aren’t technically sparrows anyway) this time of year. Maybe Chicago is the fall home for White-throated sparrows. All the birds started to chirp with urgency when a Kestrel (sparrow hawk!) landed on the garden’s flagpole.

Taffy, Annie, Cottonwoods

Philosophers Corner

Derrida on Sienfeld:

"You should stop watching sitcom and do your homework; read."

D&D

Dunkin Donuts coffee with cream and sugar tastes like what coffee candy would taste like if coffee candy were warm and liquid.

Which reminds me of the Producers, which was originally a film about a Broadway show, then a Broadway show about a Broadway show and now a film based on a Broadway show about a Broadway show.

Is Dunkin Donuts coffee a coffee about a candy? The candy, we know, is a candy about coffee. If Dunkin Donuts made a candy based on their delicious coffee then my comparison would be flawless.

Tip of the Week

Our show is a New City Tip of the Week.

Capote, not Coyote

This evening at The Oriental I saw a film called Capote – similar to coyote but with a p sound in place of the y sound. The Capote in the movie did not look hungry like the coyote in Death Valley, but at times he looked equally miserable.

But what interested me early on in this film was something else. It was a scene in which Truman enters a train compartment and there is a woman who I immediately identified as Harper Lee. And it was. I do not know how I knew it; I do not recall knowing that T. Capote and H. Lee were friends or colleagues, but somehow I knew. Furthermore, I do not know what Harper Lee looked like or looks like, so if Catherine Keener looked like her I wouldn’t be the one to tell you. Also, I did not know the Nelle Harper Lee and Truman Capote were childhood friends, or that her first name was Nelle. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird, both the book and the movie.

Din Din

Cooked: I did.
Recipe: One bratwurst and a tablespoon or more of spicy mustard. Cook Bratwurst until burnt on two sides.
Dishes: I will.


Presentation is a big part of cooking. I chose the yellow saucer for its relationship to the mustard. The mustard is presented in what in the culinary arts is known as a “bulls-eye" presentation. It is considered a bold move and should not be overused.

Karaoke, I Mean Coyote

This mangy coyote was asking as politely as it knew how for a handout. This poor, pathetic canine resides (if indeed it still resides at all) in Death Valley.